Our Lady of Czestochowa

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. | Credit: U.S. Department of State Flickr, public domain; Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Jan 6, 2026 / 18:30 pm (CNA).

The U.S. State Department announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin about the situation in Venezuela.

During the Jan. 6 call, the State Department indicated that “the two leaders discussed pressing challenges, including efforts to improve the humanitarian situation, particularly in Venezuela, as well as the promotion of peace and religious freedom globally.”

Both leaders “reaffirmed their commitment to deepening cooperation between the United States and the Holy See in addressing shared priorities around the world,” the State Department added.

At the time of this publication, the Vatican had not provided details about the call. Parolin served as apostolic nuncio to Venezuela from 2009 to 2013.

On Sunday, Jan. 4, during the Angelus prayer, Pope Leo XIV expressed his concern about the situation in the country and called for full respect for Venezuela’s national sovereignty following the Jan. 3 U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores.

“With a heart full of concern, I am following the evolution of the situation in Venezuela,” the pope stated, emphasizing that “the good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail above any other consideration.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

President Donald Trump talks to Republicans about their stance on the Hyde Amendment on Jan. 6, 2026. | Credit: Mandel NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Jan 6, 2026 / 18:10 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump is asking congressional Republicans to be more flexible on taxpayer funding for abortions as lawmakers continue to negotiate an extension to health care subsidies related to the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Some federal subsidies that lowered premiums for those enrolled in the Affordable Care Act expired in December.

The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that the average increase to premiums for people who lost the subsidies will be about 114%, from $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026. The exact costs will be different, depending on specific plans.

Trump has encouraged his party to work on extending those subsidies and is asking them to be “flexible” on a provision that could affect tax-funded abortion. Democrats have proposed ending the restrictions of the Hyde Amendment, which bans direct federal funding for abortions in most cases.

“Let the money go directly to the people,” Trump said at the House Republican Conference retreat at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 6.

“Now you have to be a little flexible on Hyde,” the president said. “You know that you got to be a little flexible. You got to work something [out]. You got to use ingenuity. You got to work. We’re all big fans of everything, but you got to be flexible. You have to have flexibility.”

The Hyde Amendment began as a bipartisan provision in funding bills that prohibited the use of federal funds for more than 45 years. Lawmakers have reauthorized the prohibition every year since it was first introduced in 1976.

A study from the Charlotte Lozier Institute estimates that the Hyde Amendment has saved more than 2.6 million lives. According to a poll conducted by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, which was commissioned by the Knights of Columbus, nearly 6 in 10 Americans oppose tax funding for abortions.

However, in recent years, many Democratic politicians have tried to keep the rule out of spending bills. Former President Joe Biden abandoned the Hyde Amendment in budget proposals, but it was ultimately included in the final compromise versions that became law.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, criticized Trump for urging flexibility on the provision, calling its support “an unshakeable bedrock principle and a minimum standard in the Republican Party.”

Dannenfelser said Republicans “are sure to lose this November” if they abandon Hyde: “The voters sent a [Republican] trifecta to Washington and they expect it to govern like one.”

“Giving in to Democrat demands that our tax dollars are used to fund plans that cover abortion on demand until birth would be a massive betrayal,” she said.

Dannenfelser also noted that, before these comments, Trump has consistently supported the Hyde Amendment. The president issued an executive order in January on enforcing the Hyde Amendment that accused Biden’s administration of disregarding this “commonsense policy.”

“For nearly five decades, the Congress has annually enacted the Hyde Amendment and similar laws that prevent federal funding of elective abortion, reflecting a long-standing consensus that American taxpayers should not be forced to pay for that practice,” the executive order reads.

“It is the policy of the United States, consistent with the Hyde Amendment, to end the forced use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion,” it adds.

Cartoonist Scott Adams announced his intention to convert to Christianity in January 2026. | Credit: Art of Charm, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Jan 6, 2026 / 17:38 pm (CNA).

Scott Adams, the 68-year-old cartoonist who created the decades-long “Dilbert” comic strip, announced he is converting to Christianity amid his deteriorating health caused by terminal cancer.

Adams, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in May 2025, had previously been critical of organized religion and expressed skepticism about traditional faiths in blog posts and two fiction books titled “God’s Debris” and its sequel, “The Religion War.”

On the Jan. 1 episode of his podcast “Real Coffee with Scott Adams,” the cartoonist expressed a change of heart following numerous conversations with Christian friends.

“I’ve not been a believer, but I also have respect for any Christian who goes another way to try to convert me,” Adams said. “Because how would I believe [that] you believe your own religion if you’re not trying to convert me? So I have great respect for people who care enough that they want me to convert and then go out of their way to try to convince me.”

Adams then informed his viewers “it is my plan to convert,” adding: “I still have time, but my understanding is, you’re never too late.”

“And on top of that, any skepticism I have about reality would certainly be instantly answered if I wake up in heaven,” he said.

Speaking to “my Christian friends,” Adams said: “It’s coming, so you don’t need to talk me into it.”

Adams appeared to invoke “ Pascal’s Wager,” which is an argument about the risks and rewards of following Jesus Christ, which was articulated by the 17th-century French Catholic philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal.

The argument was not meant to be a “proof” for God or even an argument about whether God exists. Rather, Pascal argued that accepting God can lead one to eternal life if he exists and it carries little risk even if he did not exist, but rejecting God will lead to eternal consequences if he exists and does not yield significant benefits even if he did not exist.

As Adams summarized his view: “If it turns out that there’’s nothing there, I've lost nothing, but I’ve respected your wishes, and I like doing that. If it turns out there is something there and the Christian model is the closest to it, I win.”

Adams’ cancer has spread through his bones and he is paralyzed below his waist. He is also suffering from heart failure.

Father Thomas Petri, a Dominican theologian, said this announcement is “very good news” and that he will continue to pray for Adams.

Petri said he has seen some Christians online try to suggest the conversion is not genuine because “he seems to be doing it merely as a wager in case God exists.” Yet, Petri said, “I’m fine with that wager.”

“Few people come to God with a perfectly formed faith,” he said. “Yet, because we believe God is love, it’s hard to think that Scott Adams’ gesture would not be received and blessed by him.”

“Naturally, as we approach death we become more focused on ultimate things and questions,” Petri added. “Trusting in God opens us to the possibility that death is not an end but an avenue to something greater. I pray that even the most hardened sinners have some desire for God even in their last moments. I think that’s enough for God to work with.”

Jimmy Akin, a senior apologist at Catholic Answers who debated Adams on assisted suicide in 2015, said he is “very glad that [Adams] has decided to seek out God in this difficult time.”

“God has many ways of drawing people to himself,” Akin said.

“On the human level, we’re built to think about events and challenges that we will soon be facing, so as we see that death is drawing near, it’s only natural for people to begin thinking about what may come after death and to try to make plans for it,” he said. “This can create an openness to the idea of God and to Christianity, even if a person was not religious previously.”

In other cases, Akin said some people “have become hardened by years of living without God” but that “God can still reach out by his grace … and being the person to him.”

“As Jesus taught us, it is never too late in this life for a person to turn to God,” he said. “That’s one of the major points of the parable of the workers in the vineyard.”

Elena Berti (left) was sleeping alone in her house when a projectile landed in her yard. Berti’s daughter, Patricia Salazar, is at right. | Credit: EWTN Noticias/Screenshot

Jan 6, 2026 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

What does large-scale bombing sound like? What does it feel like to be in the middle of a series of explosions? After Jan. 3, everyone in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, is able to answer these questions.

Around 2 a.m. local time on Jan. 3, as the U.S. military carried out Operation Absolute Resolve to capture President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, terrifying explosions interrupted the sleep of millions. A family from east Caracas, the Bertis, along with their neighbors experienced the chaos firsthand.

Survival was ‘a miracle’

It’s one thing to be awakened by the relatively distant sound of planes and bombs, and quite another to be jolted awake by the devastating roar of a projectile landing less than 20 meters (65 feet) from your room.

Elena Berti, 78, was sleeping alone in her house when a projectile landed in her yard during the bombings. Berti lives in a small neighborhood near an area known as El Volcán, where there are antennas that were among the U.S. military’s targets.

The force of the explosion was devastating. “My house is destroyed, my house is destroyed!” was all Berti could manage to say on the phone to her daughter, Patricia Salazar, who was only able to help her mother hours later, when it was already daylight and the danger had passed.

“She always sleeps with a rosary behind her pillow and always has a number of statues of saints on her nightstand; some of them, unfortunately, lost their heads. I say a miracle was worked for her, as well as for my aunt and uncle who live upstairs,” Salazar said in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

Two large windows, located above Berti’s head as she slept, were blown to pieces. A large piece of the headboard of her bed, made of heavy wood, also broke. Several doors and walls were destroyed. The kitchen was almost unrecognizable. There is such significant damage to the structure of the house that a large portion needs to be demolished.

But Berti was completely unharmed.

“In the morning, she started sending me the photos,” Salazar said, “very graphic ones, of the destroyed house, and the only thing I wrote back was a phrase from the Novena of Abandonment, which I’ve been reading: ‘Oh Jesus, I give myself totally to you, I abandon myself to you, you take care of everything,’” she recalled, visibly moved.

“Our dear God will help us; he’s the one who saved my mom and my aunt and uncle, who could have easily died because, well, what are the odds that a missile ... with all that power, comes falling in your garden and destroys, to say the least, half of your house? The windows shattered completely; they could have been cut in two. I can’t tell you what happened, but a miracle definitely occurred,” she said.

20 feet less and ‘it would have been a disaster’

Windows and doors of houses more than 660 feet from the point of impact were destroyed. Almost the entire neighborhood was affected, not only in terms of material damage but also psychologically.

On the second floor of Berti’s house, in a separate apartment, lives her brother Arturo. That night he stayed up very late: He had been reading in his living room until just a few minutes before the projectile hit. The living room ended up being the area most affected by the explosion.

“A little while later [after he had left the room] I heard a long whistling sound and then an impact, a phenomenal explosion, something incredible. Everything shook, the bed shook. I felt the building shake, all the windows shattered, the bed was covered in glass,” Arturo Berti recounted.

He immediately tried to take cover with his wife, not knowing exactly what had happened. Arturo said that those who have heard his story and seen the videos of the explosion have no explanation how they managed to come out alive.

“It has to be a miracle, it’s something incredible. If it had been six meters [20 feet] less, it would have fallen into the house, and I don’t know what would have happened; it would have been a disaster. Of course, I believe strongly in God, I have always believed in God, in the Virgin Mary, and in [St.] José Gregorio. That’s how it is, it was the hand of God,” he said, on the verge of tears.

Right next to the Berti residence live Gracia Mónaco and her daughter, Ana María Campos. The damage to their house was concentrated in their two bedrooms.

Amid the smoke and rubble, Campos went to her mother’s room, which no longer had windows. The frames were severely bent, and the walls were violently cracked.

Mónaco’s faith had clung to a small statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which she had just placed on her nightstand a few hours before the bombings.

“This Virgin Mary statue that’s here wasn’t here two days ago. I found it in the closet where I had stored it and I said: I’m going to put it out again,” she recounted.

“My window exploded here, debris came in, I suffered through the moment, but this Virgin Mary statue remained here without moving, without falling over, and for me that means something. You have to believe in that, that God exists, that he is with us,” she added.

Campos said her shock and nerves were eased by her mother’s faith.

“My mom tells me: Look, Ana María, I had this Virgin Mary statue put away, and I took it out. You should have seen how that statue was: Intact, it didn’t even fall. Everything else had fallen, and the Virgin Mary remained standing. She held it in her hand and placed it next to where it had been and said to me: Don’t you believe in God, don’t you have faith? That truth moved me,” she said.

Mónaco, her daughter, the Berti family, and all their neighbors are proof of the unwavering faith of Venezuelans, even in the most adverse conditions, which have been many in the last 25 years.

“This is important to me, it’s vital because I have faith, and faith is with me all the time. That’s why I tell her that we must always believe, not just occasionally. God is with us always, at all times and in all circumstances,” Mónaco said.

The Berti family has started a fundraising campaign where anyone can contribute to the reconstruction of their house. Those who wish to do so can also donate building materials for Mónaco’s house and those of the other neighbors.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Russell Shaw. Credit: Ignatius Press

Jan 6, 2026 / 14:10 pm (CNA).

Russell Shaw, a Catholic writer and journalist whose prolific career spanned decades including years of work for the U.S. bishops, died Jan. 6 at the age of 90.

Catholic writer Mike Aquilina announced Shaw’s death on Facebook, describing him as a “pundit, journalist, novelist, virtuoso of friendship,” and a “mentor” to those in Catholic media.

Born May 19, 1935, in Washington, D.C., Shaw attended Gonzaga High School and then Georgetown University, at which he eventually obtained a master of arts degree in English literature in 1960.

He would subsequently go on to write for the Catholic Standard, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., after which he joined the staff of the National Catholic Welfare Conference (NCWC) News Service.

Shaw’s work at NCWC began what would become years of association with the U.S. bishops — first at the welfare conference and eventually as the director of the National Catholic Office for Information at the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference.

He served a variety of roles there including as associate secretary for communication and secretary for public affairs. He served as press secretary of the U.S. delegations to the world Synods of Bishops held in Rome between 1971 and 1987 and was the national coordinator of media relations during Pope John Paul II’s pastoral visits to the U.S. in 1979 and 1987.

Later in his career, Shaw worked as a freelance writer, including years of columns written for CNA as well as for CNA’s sister news partner the National Catholic Register.

The author of more than 20 books, including works on ethics and moral theology, he also contributed to the New Catholic Encyclopedia and the Catholic Social Sciences Encyclopedia.

Shaw was predeceased by his wife, Carmen, to whom he was married for more than 50 years. The Shaws leave behind five children and numerous grandchildren.

Aquilina in announcing his passing said Shaw “wrote thousands of articles and dozens of books” and described him as a “wise man.”

Catholic writer and National Review Institute Senior Fellow Kathryn Jean Lopez, meanwhile, called the news of Shaw’s death “heartbreaking” and described him as “a good/great man who loved Jesus.”

She told CNA on Jan. 6 that Shaw “loved God, his family, and was wise about the realities of the Church in the world.”

“He knew that the Church is not just the clergy, but all of us, working toward heaven together,” Lopez said.

She said he possessed a “unique gift for being able both to work for the institutions of the Church and retain the freedom of Christ at the same time.”

“God surely blessed us with the life of Russell Shaw,” she continued. “May we be worthy of the gift by answering the call to holiness he dedicated his life to.”

Shaw’s work, meanwhile, provides Catholics in media “a great example and legacy to learn from,” she said.

Credit: chayanuphol/Shutterstock

Jan 6, 2026 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

The United States bishops have invited Catholics to pray an annual Respect Life novena for the protection of the unborn.

The Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is sponsoring the “9 Days for Life” prayer that will begin on Friday, Jan. 16, and end on Jan. 24. The novena is to be prayed in observance of the annual Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children on Jan. 22.

The 2026 “9 Days for Life” marks the 14th time the novena has taken place. Since it began, the prayer has reached hundreds of thousands of people in over 100 countries spanning six continents, according to the USCCB.

The overarching intention of the novena is to end abortion, and it also offers prayers for mothers and fathers, those suffering from participation in abortions, civic leaders, and pro-life activists.

Those who sign up to participate can access a resource kit with information in both English and Spanish. Participants will be offered daily prayer intentions accompanied by short reflections and suggested actions to help build a culture of life.

There are also resources available to help leaders guide the novena at parishes, schools, and ministries.

Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children

The USCCB first started sponsoring the novena in 2013 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision on Jan. 22, 1973. Following the legalization of abortion, “millions of children have lost their lives, and millions of women and families have been wounded by abortion,” the USCCB said.

While the Supreme Court overturned Roe. v Wade in 2022, continuing efforts are still “needed to protect children and their mothers from the tragedy of abortion,” the bishops said.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), designated Jan. 22 as “a particular day of prayer and penance.” In all the dioceses of the U.S., the day “shall be observed as a particular day of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion,” according to the GIRM.

On the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children, the bishops suggest the faithful observe the day by attending Mass, abstaining from meat, praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet, fasting, praying a decade of the rosary, or offering a prayer for life to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

Bandits attacked villages located within the territory of Nigeria’s Kontagora Catholic Diocese beginning Dec. 28, 2025. | Credit: Kontagora Catholic Diocese

Jan 6, 2026 / 12:59 pm (CNA).

At least 42 people have been killed and an unknown number of women and children abducted following a series of coordinated attacks on villages located in Nigeria’s Kontagora Catholic Diocese.

In a statement issued Jan. 5, the director of social communications of the diocese, Father Matthew Stephen Kabirat, provided details about the attacks.

“A devastating attack occurred in Kasuwan Daji, a village in Agwara local government, Niger state, as bandits invaded early Sunday morning. The attack has left over 40 people killed and several others kidnapped,” Kabirat said. “Reports indicate the bandits operated for hours with no security presence.”

According to Kabirat, the attacks were part of a wave of violence that began on Dec. 28, 2025, when heavily armed bandits riding about 30 motorcycles emerged from their hideout in the Kainji Game Reserve.

“They crossed into Kebbi state, north of Shafaci, and proceeded to the village of Kaiwa, where they killed five people and set fire to houses and grain stores. They then moved on to Gebe, where they killed two more people,” the priest said.

Kabirat explained that on the evening of Jan. 1, the bandits passed through Shafaci again and burned documents at the police station before spending the night in the bush.

On the morning of Jan. 2, they passed near Bako-Mission and the Tungan Kure junction near Pissa Village, where they gave some individuals a telephone number to be delivered to the district head of Pissa and the village head of Sokonbora.

At about 10 a.m. that same day, the bandits entered the Catholic church compound in Sokonbora and destroyed a crucifix, pictures of the Stations of the Cross, and musical instruments, Kabirat said, adding that the attackers also stole two motorcycles, mobile phones, and cash from the Catholic church in Sakonbora.

“After leaving Sokonbora, they occupied some Kambari compound nearby, where they spent the rest of that day until the afternoon of the next day [Jan. 3], eating the chickens and goats of the people,” Kabirat further recounted.

“Towards the evening of [Jan. 3], they left the Kambari compound near Sokonbora and entered the village of Kasuwan Daji, about eight kilometers [about five miles] from Sokonbora,” he said.

Kasuwan Daji is a small village with a large Wednesday market. The attackers, the priest said, “set fire to the market and surrounding houses, slaughtering 42 men after tying their arms behind their backs.”

“These victims were both Christians and Muslims; they also kidnapped an unknown number of women and children,” Kabirat said.

The priest explained that this particular group of criminals has been roaming freely across the northern part of Borgu local government area in Niger state and the southern part of Shanga local government area in Kebbi state between Dec. 28 and Jan. 3 without being challenged by security forces.

As a result, Kabirat said, the Papiri schoolchildren who were recently released from captivity have been further traumatized.

The children, he said, “are forced to hide in the bush with their families whenever reports indicate that the bandits are nearby, both day and night.”

“Panic is now widespread around the villages, where rumors abound,” the priest said, adding: “In this entire area, there are many villages. However, there is not a single large town where people can run to for safety. Nevertheless, people are evacuating the area in large numbers, abandoning their homes and properties.”

He added: “In view of the above, it is clear that pending the elimination of the bandits and their hideouts in Kanji Game Reserve, there is an immediate need for a large and well-equipped military task force in the area capable of and empowered to pursue, engage, and eliminate the bandits whenever they come out of the game reserve again for further attacks,” Kabirat said.

“Without such a task force, there will be a massive and ongoing loss of life and permanent displacement of large numbers of people.”

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.

Arthur Brooks gives a keynote address at SEEK 2026 on Jan. 4, 2026, in Columbus, Ohio. | Credit: Madalaine Elhabbal/CNA

Jan 6, 2026 / 12:29 pm (CNA).

New York Times bestselling author and Harvard professor Arthur Brooks encouraged attendees at SEEK 2026 to resist the temptation as missionaries to “fight fire with fire.”

In his Jan. 4 keynote speech in Columbus, Ohio, Brooks said the world “is not just a cold world” but “a world that attacks you.” In this context, he said, it can be challenging not to fight back.

However, he said, “your job isn’t to win arguments, it’s to win a soul.”

Brooks teaches at the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School and has written multiple books on finding happiness and meaning in life, including “From Strength to Strength” and “Build the Life You Want,” which he coauthored with Oprah Winfrey. He also writes a column for The Free Press.

Some 26,000 attendees have gathered through Jan. 5 in Columbus, Denver, and Fort Worth, Texas, for the SEEK 2026 conference organized by FOCUS.

“The spirit of the missionary will take you into the heart of a culture war,” Brooks said. “And in that culture war, you won’t win with violence … as you can win with love.” Brooks recounted his experience giving a talk in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 2014 for an audience he said was “a very ideologically oriented group.”

According to Brooks, he was the only speaker out of the 15 present who was not a presidential candidate. He said that during his address, he told his audience: “You’ve been hearing from political candidates who want your vote. And what they’re telling you is that you’re right and the people who disagree with you are stupid people and hate America, but I want you to remember something. Those people, they’re your neighbors, and they’re your family … It’s not that they hate America, it’s that they disagree with you.”

When acting as a missionary, he said, the goal is to persuade people. “If you want to persuade them, you can’t do that with hatred, because nobody has ever been insulted into agreement,” Brooks said.

‘Entering mission territory’

Brooks concluded by telling about a retreat center that he and his wife, Ester, visit when they give marriage preparation. Inside the chapel of the retreat center, he said, there is a sign over the door to exit the chapel that reads: “You are now entering mission territory.”

“So as you leave this beautiful, beautiful gathering tomorrow, the signs on the door of your hotel or this conference facility, any place that you find yourself as you leave this city, and effectively for the last time tomorrow, is that you’re entering mission territory,” Brooks said. “Let’s set the world on fire together.”

Katie Tangeman, a sophomore at Northwest Missouri State University, said she came away from Brooks’ talk motivated to “just take a step back whenever I’m feeling frustrated or annoyed with somebody, or if they’re attacking me, to just see them as a beloved son or daughter of God and approach them with love instead of the contempt and hate that [Brooks] was talking about.”

“Because that’s not being a good Christian,” she added.

“I want to say the biggest thing I took away from Arthur Brooks’ talk tonight, his keynote speech, [is] that you can change the trajectory of how a conversation goes by battling it with kindness in a way,” said Andrew Stuart, an agricultural business major, also at Northwest Missouri State.

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Jan. 6, 2026. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Jan 6, 2026 / 08:45 am (CNA).

Celebrating the solemnity of the Epiphany in St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday, Pope Leo XIV said God’s saving presence is revealed not “in a prestigious location” but “in a humble place” and urged Catholics to protect what is holy and newly born — “small, vulnerable, fragile” — in a world that often seeks to profit from everything.

“The child whom the Magi adore is a priceless and immeasurable good. It is the Epiphany of a gift. It does not occur in a prestigious location but in a humble place,” the pope said in his homily, delivered during a Mass that also included the closing of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, the last Holy Door to be shut at the end of the jubilee year.

Reflecting on the Gospel account of the Magi’s journey (Matthew 2:1-12), Leo contrasted the joy of those who seek Christ with the fear of Herod, who “tries to take advantage of the wishes of the Magi by manipulating their quest.”

“Fear does indeed blind us,” he said. “Conversely, the joy of the Gospel liberates us. It makes us prudent, yes, but also bold, attentive, and creative; it beckons us along ways that are different to those already traveled.”

In one of the final major liturgies of his first Christmas season as pope, Leo also warned against the spiritual dangers of a distorted economy that turns even humanity’s deepest longings into a commodity.

“Loving and seeking peace means protecting what is holy and, consequently, that which is newly born like a small, vulnerable, fragile baby. Around us, a distorted economy tries to profit from everything. We see how the marketplace can turn human yearnings of seeking, traveling, and beginning again into a mere business,” he said.

The pope pointed to the “stream of innumerable men and women, pilgrims of hope” who crossed the Holy Door during the jubilee and asked what the Church offered them — and what she must offer going forward.

“Millions of them crossed the threshold of the Church. What did they find?” he asked, adding that “the spiritual searching of our contemporaries, much richer than perhaps we can comprehend, invites us to earnest reflection.”

After the jubilee year, he continued, Catholics should examine whether they have learned to recognize God’s presence in those they encounter: “After this year, will we be better able to recognize a pilgrim in the visitor, a seeker in the stranger, a neighbor in the foreigner, and fellow travelers in those who are different?”

Leo also urged Catholics not to reduce churches to museums but to ensure they are places where faith is alive and hope is born anew.

“If we do not reduce our churches to monuments, if our communities are homes, if we stand united and resist the flattery and seduction of those in power, then we will be the generation of a new dawn,” he said.

Angelus: Replace the industry of war with the craft of peace

Following the Mass, Pope Leo XIV appeared at the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica to pray the Angelus and again linked the Epiphany to the end of the jubilee year, emphasizing that Christian hope must be lived concretely in the world.

“Dear friends, the hope that we proclaim must be grounded in reality, for Jesus came down from heaven in order to create a new story here below,” he said.

In a pointed appeal for peace, he prayed: “May strangers and enemies become brothers and sisters. In the place of inequality, may there be fairness, and may the industry of war be replaced by the craft of peace. As weavers of hope, let us journey together towards the future by another road.”

After the Marian prayer, the pope greeted children and young people around the world on Missionary Childhood Day and thanked them for praying for missionaries and helping those in need. He also offered good wishes for serenity and peace to Eastern Christian communities preparing to celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar.

This story was first published in two parts by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

Pope Leo XIV closes the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, concluding the Jubilee of Hope, on Jan. 6, 2026. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jan 6, 2026 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday closed the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, bringing the ordinary holy year to an end — a time of grace that invited Catholics to conversion, reconciliation, and hope.

The pontiff processed toward the Holy Door as the antiphon “O clavis David” was sung. Reaching the threshold, he knelt before the door and remained for a few minutes in silent prayer. He then rose and, at 9:41 a.m., pushed shut the two large bronze doors — a gesture that visibly marked the end of the jubilee season.

“With thankful hearts we now prepare to close this Holy Door, crossed by a multitude of faithful, certain that the Good Shepherd always keeps the door of his heart open to welcome us whenever we feel weary and oppressed,” Leo XIV said in an address before the concluding gesture that ended the ecclesial event, ordinarily held every 25 years to offer the faithful the possibility of obtaining a plenary indulgence.

With these words, Leo XIV emphasized that even though the jubilee has ended, God’s mercy remains ever open to believers.

Before closing the doors, the Holy Father pronounced in Latin the formula prescribed by the rite, following a practice established in 1975 and later simplified by St. John Paul II during the Jubilee of the Year 2000.

In keeping with the simplified celebration, the public rite did not include the portion involving the construction of a brick wall and was limited to the closing of the bronze doors. The masonry work itself will be carried out later, privately, about 10 days after this public rite.

The act will be overseen by the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff. The so-called “sampietrini” — personnel of the Fabric of St. Peter, including carpenters, cabinetmakers, and electricians who normally handle basilica maintenance — will build the brick wall inside the basilica to definitively seal the Holy Door.

During this private rite — without cameras or journalists — the traditional metal capsule (“capsis”) will be inserted into the wall. It will contain the official act of closure, coins minted during the jubilee year, and the keys of the Holy Door as a material and symbolic testimony of the holy year that, as the pope noted, has ended on the calendar but not in the spiritual life of the Church.

Leo XIV then recited the prayer of thanksgiving for the ordinary holy year, proclaiming: “This Holy Door is closed, but the door of your mercy is not closed.”

The formula concluded with an invocation that the “treasures” of divine grace would remain open “so that, at the end of our earthly pilgrimage, we may confidently knock at the door of your house and enjoy the fruits of the tree of life.”

The Jubilee of Hope was instituted on Dec. 24, 2024, by Pope Francis but, after his death in April 2025, was concluded by his successor, Leo XIV — a situation not seen since the year 1700. The last ordinary jubilee (celebrated every 25 years) took place in 2000.

Jubilees may also be celebrated at “extraordinary” moments, such as the Jubilee of Mercy celebrated by Francis in 2015 or the one to be convoked in 2033 to commemorate the two millennia of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

After closing the Holy Door, Leo XIV presided over Mass for the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord inside St. Peter’s Basilica, bringing the day’s liturgical celebration to its conclusion.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.